Forever A Paper Doll

Distinguished Alumni, Honored Mentors and Leaders, Fellow Classmates, and Dear Friends,

Today we have finally become Paper Doll Gang Graduates. We have come along way from our first days on the playground, when we learned our ABC's of writing. I myself found the playground exercises relatively easy. But I knew that learning ABC's of writing was just the beginning of our journey.

Then came the "real" challenges. Here we learned how to write short stories and poetry, how to create crossword puzzles, polls, ins and outs, campfires, review templates, query letters, and contests. Then I began having health issues and wanted to drop out of the class. But through the encouragement and kindness of Hannah and my sister, Cindy, I decided to forge ahead. Every time I completed a challenge and received a gold star, it brought me a great sense of  accomplishment and I knew I was closer to graduating. This gave me the desire to continue on to reach my final goal of graduation. I must say that some of the challenges were rather difficult but with determination we were able to succeed. I know that we'll always have these challenges embedded in our minds forever, but because of this our writing skills have been greatly enhanced. In the process, we have become friends and have made memories together which will last a lifetime. I'm so glad that I decided to stick with it to the end.

Now I would like to address the Paper Doll Gang on a more personal basis:

To my wonderful sister, Cindy: You were the one who encouraged me to take this class. Without your love and support, I would have never made it through. I probably would have quit when times got rough. But with you standing by me, I made it through. I love you with all my heart and want to thank so much for being a mentor to me both here and also as a great big sister in life.

Hannah: I want to thank you for all your kindness and encouragement. I will never be able to thank you enough for all you have done for me, and continue to do for me. You do so much for everyone and you are a truly great leader, I am so glad you are you! Also, thank you to all the other leaders who are too numerous to name here.

Shelley: You have been a great mentor. I want to thank you for always being there for me whenever I needed you. The next person that has you as a mentor, will be very lucky! You totally rock!

Megan:  I am so glad you were my pal. You were truly supportive and I have learned a lot from you. You were there whenever I needed help with something. Thanks for being such an awesome pal. I'm so honored that I had the opportunity to be paired up with you!!

Jimminy: Thank you for hosting the Student Lounge. It was great to go into the lounge to get to know my fellow classmates better, knowing that you were always there. You are a great host and run the lounge very well. I always enjoyed coming into the lounge because you're so encouraging to everyone.. Great Job! Thanks for being such a great host!

To my Fellow Classmates: I'm so honored to have been part of such a great class. I consider you all to be my friends, I truly value each and everyone of you. You are all wonderful people and I'm glad I got to know you. I want to thank all of you for all your encouragement and friendship. I'm looking forward to being fellow Alumni with all of you.

Now the time has come to say goodbye to being a Newbie and saying hello to being an Alumni; and knowing that I will always forever be a Doll in the Paper Doll Gang!